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Jane Russell: Howard Hughes
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Voluptuous sex symbol and star of Hollywood films, TV, and nightclubs, Jane Russell was the daughter of an actress. She worked as a receptionist and model, and studied theater at Max Reinhardt's Theatrical Workshop and with Maria Ouspenskaya. Endowed with a large bust, she won the lead role in Howard Hughes' The Outlaw (1941) after Hughes conducted a nationwide search for a curvaceous actress, eventually finding her working in his dentist's office. The film caused a storm of controversy due primarily to the amount of cleavage shown by Russell onscreen, and, after brief releases in 1941 and 1943, it was not officially released until 1950. The controversy brought her much publicity, often in the form of off-color, sophomoric jokes.
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On April 24, 1943, Russell married her high-school sweetheart, Robert Waterfield, who was at the time a student at UCLA and the quarterback of the college football team. He went on to a successful professional football career with the Los Angeles Rams as a player and a coach. Russell continued in the odd position of being a movie star whose one movie had barely been seen until 1945, when Hughes loaned her out to United Artists to star in the drama Young Widow, which opened in 1946. As part of this deal, United Artists sponsored the second release of The Outlaw, and Russell accompanied showings of the film in Chicago, Atlantic City, and Boston, singing in public for the first time. Her singing was well received, and she accepted an offer from bandleader Kay Kyser to perform on his radio program, Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge, on NBC, replacing his regular female singer, Ginny Sims, who had left the band to go solo. Kyser ... sent Russell to a vocal coach; he was sufficiently impressed with the results to sign her for 12 weeks of appearances and, on January 8, 1947, to use her on a recording session that produced the single "As Long as I Live," released by Columbia Records, her recording debut.
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Russell's contract was owned by Hughes through much of her career, and he squandered her talent in many forgettable films. When given the chance, though, Russell could shine on-screen. Her first non-controversial acclaim came when Ginger Rogers was unavailable to play Calamity Jane in The Paleface opposite Bob Hope. Russell stepped in and showed sharp comedic talents, and the film was the funniest send-up of westerns until Blazing Saddles. She later starred twice with Robert Mitchum, in the excellent gangster drama His Kind of Woman and the sultry smuggling thriller Macao, and she re-teamed with Hope for the well-received sequel Son of Paleface.
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Russell's first film was the notorious western The Outlaw, which became known for its then-shocking display of Russell's charms rather than as a quality western film. Filmed in 1941 and directed by Howard Hawks, American censors almost immediately banned the film. It was briefly released in 1943 and again in 1946 and 1947, but The Outlaw did not gain a wide release until 1950. In some European countries, the film was banned until the early 1960s.
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There is a fabulous commentary led by historian Eddie Muller and screenwriter Stanley Rubin, with some latter infused input from actress Jane Russell. The only real problem with not having Russell 'live' for the commentary is that Muller and Rubin can't react to what she says. Great stories though about the conflict of Mitchum and Von Sternberg - plus the director's strict on set rules that weren't going to fly with Mitchum. ever. Rubin finds time to tell a great story about Janet Leigh, more Hughes related than to the film, and his crush on Gloria Grahame. The only real issue with the commentary is that not much is spoken about what is transpiring on screen - still very captivating with lots of Hollywood gossip.
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Howard Hughes now kept Jane idle for another three years, during which time he bought RKO Studios. He then put her to work, and at last Jane's movie career gained real momentum. She appeared with Frank Sinatra in "Double Dynamite", and Hughes thencast her opposite Robert Mitchum in "His Kind Of Woman", a movie intended as a lush melodrama full of romance and intrigue with a modicum of comic relief. Hughes infuriated director John Farrow with his persistent meddling, and when the film was almost completed, Farrow walked off the movie. To the astonishment of the cast, Hughes then decided that most of the film should be re-shot with Richard Fleischer directing. Much of the new material was comedy.
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